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LTV for Status | ersatz’s blog

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The labor theory of value, famous for its association with Marxism (at least in its orthodox form), holds that value is derived from the average time required to produce a given unit. According to this theory, at least for commodities, value simply refers to the average time required to produce them. This is wrong, like most Marxist ideas, but it’s interesting and made me think of something that may be just as wrong but perhaps also as interesting. Status is often broken down into two parts: prestige and dominance. Dominance is power over people, sometimes called the power of the king. Prestige is more complex and involves demonstrating one’s value to a group as well as being recognized as an example of behavior that would be valued by the group. Think about being recognized as a good hunter, as well as being recognized as having been a good hunter. I would argue that status can be seen as referring to envy. Let’s start by defining envy. Envy is a negatively valenced emotion (i.e., a s

09 Dec, 2025 The labor theory of value, famous for its association with Marxism (at least in its orthodox form), holds that value is derived from the average time required to produce a given unit. According to this theory, at least for commodities, value simply refers to the average time required to produce them. This is wrong, like most Marxist ideas, but it’s interesting and made me think of something that may be just as wrong but perhaps also as interesting. Status is often broken down into two parts: prestige and dominance. Dominance is power over people, sometimes called the power of…

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